a lot of fun
This game feels kind of like a downgrade if you are playing with a steering wheel, since there is no 900 degree steering and force feedback. The lack of a bbs system like TXRD2 also makes you wonder what the rivals think after you beat them.
It is the only thing that rivals TXRD2 in terms of uniqueness. The 2 series is really distinct and completely different from another, that it's just a completely different experience. You roam the streets of tokyo, osaka, & nagoya looking for rivals to challenge, and win by draining your rivals bar. the free roaming aspect is just great. The music that plays during some of the battles is just great.
This game is a lot more arcadish but still a lot of fun. Money is a lot harder to come by. In TXRD2, you just get a few good sponsors and keep doing advanced challenges when they are available or gymkanas for easy money. This game forces you to consider what you really want to buy and upgrade.
Dispite being an arcadish style game, there are still some sim aspects, like tuning, correct entry speeds, and countersteer to avoid walls. You are not going to be going over 200mph easily even with everything maxed out. The game features water and oil temperature, which can make your car useless if they get too hot, which is really something no simulator I know of has come up with. It's still often a better strategy to just wall ride to drain your opponents bar faster or keep up. so the game is not really realistic. It's oversteer physics are easily better than GT4.
The one area in this game that surpasses TXRD2 is visual moding. you can design your own body paint with enough patience and place decals anywhere. You can add carbon fiber fenders, bumpers, rims, etc. You can also swap engines.
The biggest problem with this game is the fact that Crave screwed up with the translation of yen to CP in some parts. This makes the game impossible to finish without a cheat device. It's also pretty hard to figure out how to get most of the rivals to accept your battles and come out without printing a faq, so this game still has tremendous replay value.